After almost 4 years of food blogging, I now have a dSLR camera. As if waiting four years wasn’t long enough, Amazon decided to ship my camera and lens separately. So while I received my camera on Friday, all I could do was stare at it and read the instruction manual until the lens showed up yesterday!
I took countless pictures of everything from my cell phone to my dog to my sock (it’s true). I couldn’t stop taking pictures, I am totally amazed by the quality and the ability to truly frame a shot. Here are a few of my favorites from the initial random batch (unedited):
For those that have been curious, I got the Canon T2i and a 50mm 1.8 lens. The lens is a portrait-style lens that creates a sharp image with a nice blurred background, which is important for food photography. I am looking forward to adding new lenses and accessories to my collection once I get my SLR footing.
If you’re into photography, I’d love any recommendations you have for photography blogs or books! I have a lot of reading and learning to do!
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Ginger-Tea Lemonade
Oh wow! Congratulations! I’m totally envious, and thinking that the dSLR would be awesome. Love the pics you’ve taken, and those are unedited, amazing!
YAY!!!! Your photos are already perfect! Have so much fun. And your dog is so precious. Goldens are my favorite!!!!
Goldens are the best
Glad you got that 50mm
Me too, I love it! Thank you for the recommendations Natalie!
Yay, I just bought a Canon T2i too! My first DSLR as well.. it’s super exciting! I’ve been taking pictures of everything around the house too, haha. Have fun playing with your new baby!
congrats! I just got a dSLR too and also in that newbie stage of taking pics of EVERYTHING. One of my pro photographer friends said that is a great way to get to know your camera and an important part to taking good quality pics, so keep on snapping! Love the pic of the fluffy paw!
AWESOME! I am so happy for you! I can’t wait to get one myself… I keep hinting that is what I want for my graduation gift when I finish my masters degree. Have tons of fun with it!
P.S. cute hair!
Thanks Lindsay!
I’m sure you already know this, but David Lebovitz does all his own food photography. He has a section on what gear he uses, tips and techniques, and links to other food bloggers…with more tips! Good luck and congrats! http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2008/04/my-food-photogr/
Thanks Brandi! I have seen that page, but need to follow the links to other food blogs! Thanks for reminding me
Wow, Michelle, I honestly thought you always had a DSLR… Your photos are just that good. Now that I have seen your photos above with the new camera, I’m so excited to see what you do with it on the food blog. Your photos are going to be AMAZING!
Congrats on the new camera!
PS – Love the doggy pictures! So cute
Aw thank you Jen, you are too sweet!
Congratulations! I just got the 50mm 1.8f lens and I love it! I agree with Jen, I always thought you had a dSLR. It’s like they say, it’s not the camera, it’s the person taking the pictures.
You too Julie – too sweet! Thank you. I love the lens, I’m glad I got it!
Wow- I always assumed that you had a dslr- what kind of camera did you have before? Have fun with your new baby! And *no* I am totally not jealos : )
Thank you! From the start of my blog through February 2009 I used a Canon PowerShot. From that point until now I’ve been using a Panasonic Lumix (both point and shoots, obviously).
I don’t follow too many blogs (your being one of only a few), but one of the other ones I follow is Ashley’s at the Edible Perspective. Her blog is mostly a healthy-eating blog, but she’s REALLY into photography and has some of the most beautiful pictures I’ve ever seen online! She’s really into sharing tips and “how-tos” from making her own light boxes to showing you how to bounce light, etc. I’m *definitely* not into photography by any means, but her pictures and blog make me wish I was
The timing is fortuitous I think- this is her post from yesterday all about ISO: http://edibleperspective.com/2010/12/photography-101-iso-mania/
Thanks so much for the recommendation Erin, I am going to check out that site!
Oh, I’m so excited for you! Santa is bringing me a dslr camera for Christmas. Can’t wait to get my hands on it!!!
Yay!
Congratulations! You took beautiful photos for your first few! I’m after that 50 mm lens as well…great for indoor shots in low light. I have used Digital Photography School many times because they have short and sweet explanations of things, daily tips (if you want) and occasional challenges to help you to branch out a bit and try new things. Good luck! http://www.digital-photography-school.com/
I will definitely bookmark it, I’ve looked at it a couple of times, thank you Cheri!
Do you have the book Understanding Exposure? It is great!
I don’t Sarah, but I have heard of it and it’s on my wish list! Thank you for confirming the recommendation!
I just started my blog recently and love photography as well. I bought a nice DSLR 2 years ago and hardly touch it. It upsets me. I love the sharp and blurred… thats my favorite style. How do you do that exactly?
Hi Gabby, To achieve that you need a shallow depth of field, which can be accomplished with a larger aperture setting (smaller f-stop number). As an example, my photo of the peanut brittle (http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2010/12/14/peanut-brittle-recipe/) had an aperture of f3.5.
Hurray, you’re going to have fun with your new toy, great pics already!
Check out some of the apps for Iphone – handy because they’ll always be with you. PhotoCaddy is one of my favorites. And if you have any of the Ereader apps (i use amazon kindle app), see if you can find a field guide or user manual for your Canon. I have the one made for my Nikon, and it’s super convenient to have with me on the go.
Michelle,
Congratulations on your new “baby.” I’m very envious. I thought that your pictures before were gorgeous, so now I can’t wait to see the food pictures with your new “baby”. I hoping that Santa brings me a new camera.
Quite honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t have a digital SLR… the quality and composure of your “old” photos were spot on. Glad to see your eye for photography is nicely enhanced. No pun intended!
Thank you!
Who is that precious puppy of yours?? Love the camera, too!
Hi Sara, He’s my golden retriever, Einstein
More about him here: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/unplugged/2010/12/03/theres-someone-i%e2%80%99d-like-you-to-meet%e2%80%a6/
NICE! I can’t wait for some food pictures
Michelle-
Too say I am a bit jealous is an understatement! This camera is at the top of my Christmas list! I hope Santa (or my husband) realizes how awesome it is! I really have been a good girl this year! Enjoy it!
Can’t wait to see all the great pics you capture with it! It will just make this awesome website even better!
Amy
I love these photos! Congratulations on your new camera, can’t wait to see your food posts. Your dog is precious.
Congratulations on your camera!! There are only 2 pieces of advice I would ever give a food photographer, one is a good lens which you already have, and the other is LIGHTING! Natural is best, but you can fake it with either light setups or an external flash. Never ever use that stupid popup.
Congrats on your new baby!
I’m a new reader to your blog–found it while looking for a good sugar cookie recipe, and I’m excited to try the ones you have posted here.
Are you familiar with http://www.kevinandamanda.com? She frequently blogs about food, (especially desserts), takes some amazing photographs, and has a dslr tutorial I’ve found helpful as I’ve ventured out of “auto” mode.
Congrats on the new camera. Now it’s off to baking I go!
Great photos and great camera! When I am on holiday I always take pictures of the food, so I really love the possibilitiees of your new camera! Have fun…
Congrats on your new camera! Amazing photos! This camera is on my wish list, someday (sigh). Can’t wait to see posts with you new pics.
If you haven’t already, check out:
http://www.learnfoodphotography.com/
I’m hoping to upgrade cameras soon, so will be looking to hear what you think about your new one!
Yay for new toys! I agree with many posters already, I already assumed you had a DLSR!
LUCKY LUCKY YOU! I wish for one of those. Maybe one day. I have a Kodak Easyshare, and altho I love it, I wish I had more manual abilitie. I have been playing with the manual setting a lot lately. I can’t wait to see all your pictures in the future. Good luck with it. Looks like fun.
Yay! You took the blunge!! I’m a Canon gal myself so if you ever want to do some geeky camera chat, just let me know!
This is the best resource I ever had when learning photography:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech.htm
This guy has dozens of well-written articles and tips for beginner to advanced photographers. Your photography on this site was already terrific, it will be cool to see how you step it up with your new camera! Congrats.
I bought the Rebel T2i last month! I opted for a package at Costco that included 2 lenses, but if I don’t get the 50 mm 1.8 lens for Christmas I’ll be ordering it for Amazon as a gift to myself! I hope you’re enjoying the camera and I look forward to hearing more about it.
I just took the plunge too. I just barely got a DSLR, too. It is a used older cannon rebel. I did some research on the T2i and I am jealous. It looks like an amazing camera. The HD video recording is amazing. You have gotten some really good pictures with the point shoot, though. Much better than the ones I got with my point and shoot. Have fun with your new baby.
I just found this site
http://www.kevinandamanda.com/whatsnew/tutorials/photography-tutorials/must-get-christmas-pictures-before-the-tree-comes-down.html
and of course http://thepioneerwoman.com/
We just got the T2i for a wedding gift in October and we LOVE it!
Nice gear, you may want to consider a wee bit of protection for it. http://www.cameraarmor.com/
I too took pictures of everything from ornaments to dogs to pictures of pictures with my new DSLR i just got for xmas! best xmas present ever!!! love it.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh sweet. I hope you and your new baby make tons of memories and spend many years together. CONGRATS
I just got this camera too!!!!
Yay! What camera bag did you get? I can’t find one that I like. I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!
~Abby
Hi! Congrats on the new camera – I am also a fellow food blogger and got the same camera for Christmas!!! What a difference, eh? (I’m Canadian). Blows my little point and shoot out of the water! Happy to have found your blog, and I’m also following you on twitter. Happy (photo) shooting and Happy New Year!
Yeah! I received this same baby for Christmas!!
What program are you using to download/edit the pics??
I had been using Iphoto – but not sure how compatible that’s going to be.
I love Abe’s of Maine. Their customer service rocks. And usually their prices are at least 10% cheaper than other places.
Good luck!
http://www.abesofmaine.com/item.do?item=CN5018&id=CN5018&&kbid=*
(Link to the lens you bought. And sometimes when you buy higher $$ amounts, you can find coupons too.)
I’m so jealous, I wish I had a camera like that.